Tag Archives: book

Post navigation

This cocktail hails from one of my favorite Brooklyn bars, and appropriately enough appears in a new cocktail collection called Brooklyn Bartender. I love that this drink not only contains equal parts whiskey & Lillet, but also equal parts of 3 types of bitters. Score!

This dessert-y cocktail is from the shiny-new updated edition of The Waldorf Astoria Bar Book, by Frank Caiafa, who helms the Peacock Alley bar inside the famed hotel. (PS, this is a book I am truly enjoying and recommend, and not only because it includes a large number of equal-parts drinks). It’s an improved version of a Peacock Alley original called the Banshee.

The drink is “inspired by the Presidential Suite (Room 35A),” Caiafa writes, “and the ghosts whose presence I (almost) felt.”

President’s Ghost

Frank Caiafa, The Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book

1 oz.Tuthilltown Hudson New York corn whiskey

1 oz. Tempus Fugit creme de cacao

1 oz. Giffard Banane du Bresil (creme de banana)

1 oz. heavy cream

Add all ingredients to mixing glass. Add ice and shake well. Fine strain into chilled cocktail glass. Top with small chocolate curls or shavings for garnish.

Taking advantage of all those Cyber Monday deals? Good for you. Now’s the time to order Cocktails for a Crowd – whether it’s a gift for a friend who loves to entertain, the party’s at your home and you’re seeking drink inspiration, or you’re celebrating elsewhere and need a host/hostess gift. Throw in a bottle of booze or bitters, and you’re officially the best gifter in the world.

My always-inspiring friend Monica Bhide has a new book out, The Devil in Us. Although Monica usually writes thoughtful musings about food and her Indian heritage (with good reason, her work frequently is featured in the annual “Best Food Writing” compilations), this is her fiction debut, a collection of short stories.

I was honored when Monica asked me to create a spicy cocktail to celebrate the new book — and here it is, perfect for sipping while you read. There’s a non-alcoholic version too, at Monica’s request. Enjoy!

Redeeming Spirits

A variation on the classic Moscow Mule, this drink is powered by the heat of pepper-infused vodka. Choose a good commercial brand (I like Oola, from Washington State), or marinate a sliced fresh jalapeno in one cup of unflavored vodka for a couple of hours. Note – a traditional Mule uses ginger beer; here the sweetness of ginger ale should help balance out the jalapeno spice.

1 1/2 ounces chile pepper-infused vodka

1/2 ounce lime juice (about half a lime)

4 ounces ginger ale

Jalapeno slice (to garnish)

In a tall glass, pour in the vodka and squeeze the lime wedges into the glass. Drop the wedges into the glass, and add a scoop of ice. Add ginger ale to fill the glass and stir.

NON ALCOHOLIC VERSION:

4-6 ounces spicy ginger beer

1/2 ounce lime juice (about half a lime)

In a tall glass, pour in the ginger beer and squeeze the lime wedges into the glass. Drop the wedges into the glass. Scoop in ice and stir to chill.

Or you can go the DIY route, for a party or to keep in the fridge at home after a long day. Here’s my recipe for making Bobby Burns cocktails by the bottle. Whip up a batch for Burns Night this weekend.

Looking for an excuse to chase away the late-January blahs? Celebrate Burns Night on January 25. This drink—perfect for Scotch lovers—is named for the famed Scottish poet Robert Burns, who wrote “Auld Lang Syne.”

In a pitcher that holds at least 5 cups, combine the Scotch, vermouth, water, and Bénédictine and stir well. Using a funnel, decant into a 1-liter liquor bottle or two 750-ml liquor bottles. Cap tightly and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until chilled.

To serve, set out a bowl or wine bucket filled with ice. Shake the bottle to ensure the cocktail is well mixed, then set it in the ice so it stays chilled. Pour into coupe or martini glasses and garnish each glass with a lemon peel.

Now’s the time to order “Cocktails for a Crowd” – whether the party’s at your home and you’re seeking drink inspiration, or you’re celebrating elsewhere and need a host/hostess gift or holiday gift. Throw in a bottle of booze or bitters, and you’re officially the best guest in the world.

If you’d like a personalized gift, email me: kara AT karanewman DOT com to obtain a signed bookplate, at no additional charge.

Not that Ruhlman had a hand in writing the book. In fact, we’ve never met.

But in part, the book came about because I was inspired by his “Ratio” app, which posits that every recipe starts with a basic ratio of ingredients – like cookie dough is 1 part sugar, 2 parts fat, and 3 parts flour – and variations take off from there.

Right away, I recognized that the same is true of cocktails. Most of my favorite drinks comprise 2 parts spirit, 1 part sour and 1 part sweet. The classic Margarita is often a 3-2-1 configuration (3 parts tequila, 2 parts Cointreau, 1 part lime juice). Not to mention drinks like the Negroni – a perfect equilateral triangle, made with a ratio of 1-1-1, three ingredients in equal measure (Campari, gin and sweet vermouth), plus a splash of soda on top.

Why was I inspired by the app based on Ruhlman’s Ratio book, instead of the book itself? Because my initial concept was for a Cocktails for a Crowd app – not a book.

I had just returned from the IACP conference in Austin (yes, that’s two years ago– still about how long it takes to shepherd a book from proposal to print at a traditional publishing house), where I’d attended a seminar on apps.

The idea for Cocktails for a Crowd crystallized during that seminar. Right away, I visualized a tool that would scale drinks from a single cocktail for one up to “cocktails for a crowd,” with the swipe of a finger. It would convert between ounces (which bartenders prefer) to cups (which home cooks prefer). It would even generate a shopping list – since further complicating what I’d come to refer to as “cocktail math,” liquor bottles are sold in 750 milliliter or 1 liter sizes, neither ounces nor cups. Only later did I realize this was a book idea too.

The app idea drove the book idea, even the book’s name. The app was a central feature of my book proposal, and I’m fairly certain it helped sell the project to Chronicle Books.

So as soon as I’d hit the “send” button on the manuscript, my next email was to inquire about the companion app.

“What’s next?” I ventured.

There would be no app, said the disappointing reply, although my publisher agreed that an app would have been a perfect extension of this particular book concept. “The trouble is that no one (publishers or developers) are seeing the sales levels we need to justify the production expense that’s required to make these products great.”

The hard truth is: people still expect apps to be free, or nearly free. Naturally, publishers are focusing their energies on profitable products – books, not apps.

Today, there still is no “Cocktails for a Crowd” app — and likely will never be, unless I pursue it independently.

Which brings me back to the app-tastic Ruhlman. I turned in my manuscript in January 2012. A few months later, I joyfully noticed that Ruhlman had begun “Friday Cocktail Hour” posts, starting with the classic Martini (8 parts gin to 1 part dry vermouth) and the Old-Fashioned (6 parts bourbon or rye, 1 part sugar, 1 part bitters). He hasn’t yet broken down cocktails into his “Ratio” format, but I say it’s just a matter of time. (If you’re impatient, I’d recommend picking up a copy of DIY Cocktails, which emphasizes the ratio aspect of cocktails.)

Are apps related to cookbooks dead in the water? I’m starting to think so.

Perhaps I should grease the wheels of optimism a bit and send a copy of my new book to Ruhlman. Because I see a “Ratio: Cocktails” book in his future. And possibly an app to go with that, too.